


bring color to my skies (they burn red)

by lvecean



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Childhood, Constellations, Domestic Fluff, Keithtober 2019, M/M, Stargazing, stars and space, unedited; we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-09 09:27:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20851184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lvecean/pseuds/lvecean
Summary: keithtober 2019 !!10/01 ; stars and space - keith's father taught him about the constellations. years later, keith teaches lance.





	bring color to my skies (they burn red)

**Author's Note:**

> hello hello!! this will be a work featuring all my keithtober fics. i have no idea how many there will be, as i had no time to work ahead, and school's kicking my butt, but we'll see <3 
> 
> i will also be posting screenshots on my [twitter](https://twitter.com/lvecean) feel free to check them out there if you prefer that. oh and if you want to be updated about when and what i'll be posting, you could consider following me ( ˘ ³˘)♥
> 
> that being said, this turned out a bit more klance-y that i had first thought but...... i don't think anyone will be too sad about that. ok have fun!!

_ ‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ you are my starlight ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙ _

“You only have to remember one thing.” 

Desert nights were known to be cold. Not a single trace of the sun’s warmth left within the acres and acres of fine sand, as the moon shone down upon the flat land. The wind rustled, taking small leaves and grains with it on its never ending journey. 

“Find the North Star.” 

“The North Star?”

A low hum. “Do you remember what it’s called?”

“P… Po… Um.” 

“Polaris. It’s called Polaris.” 

Keith looked up at the sky. Polaris. The North Star. There she was. Shining brighter than any of the other stars. “Polaris,” Keith whispered. Mouth falling open as he craned his head back to look up at the sky. 

His father hummed. His eyes too, trained on the small, but relatively big, white speck on night’s black dress. “She’ll always be there. Day or night, doesn’t matter.” His father let a silence fall between them. “The only thing is, you can only see her at night. When the sun goes down and it gets dark enough for her light to reach Earth.” 

Keith nodded. Head still back in his neck as he gazed up at Polaris.  _ Duh _ . You can’t even see the  _ moon _ during the day, and the North Star was way way way further. When his eyes began to tear and his neck strained, he leaned his rocking chair forwards so he could look at the horizon. The sun was long gone. They’d watched her fall down and burn the edges of their world, sitting cross legged on their rocking chairs and eating the noodles his dad had prepared. 

When the first stars had appeared, his dad had walked back inside and swapped their empty bowls and used chopsticks for two glass bottles of coke and a blue can of Cheez Balls, two soft blankets swung over his shoulder. And that’s how they found themselves still out under the desert sky, an hour later. The sun had gone completely, and the stars had brightened significantly, the lack of light making them stand out like freckles on pale cheeks. 

“Do you remember the first constellation?” 

Keith shook his head, slightly ashamed at having forgotten such a thing. 

His dad smiled. “That’s okay. I can teach you again.” He shuffled to the right, rocking chair wobbling before he swung one leg over the opposing arm rest and balanced himself out. This way, he could lean closer to Keith and point out the stars. “Have you found Polaris?” 

Keith nodded, eyes fixed on Polaris. He was not going to lose sight of it. 

“Okay. Then you want to follow it to the right.” He brought a hand up to point. “Start here,” he whispered, “and then,” his finger followed the trail from Polaris to Yildum to Urodelus to Alifa Al Farkadain where the little box started, “you go all the way over there and end with the Beta star. Kochab.” 

“Kochab,” Keith echoed, matching his father’s whispering. His body turned towards his dead, but his eyes stayed trained to the new star he’d learned. “Dad? What does Beta star mean?” 

His dad smiled and reached out to brush a strand of hair away from Keith’s eyes. “It means that it’s the second brightest star of the constellation.” He looked away from his son’s mesmerized face and pointed to Kochab. “See? Polaris shines brighter.” 

At this, Keith’s smile broadened. “Heh. Polaris wins. She’s stronger.” 

His dad chuckled softly. “That’s not how that works, buddy.” He sat up straight for a second to pick up the can of Cheez Balls from the floor. He threw a few in his mouth before offering the can to Keith. His small hand dove inside and he grabbed as many of them as would fit. His dad smiled, at the sight of his son stuffing his face with the orange chips while still keeping his eyes fixed on the stars. “You see, Kochab is just a bit further away. Less of her light gets lost on the way here.” He watched the cogs turn in Keith’s head as he processed what his father had just said. 

Keith turned to his father, greasy hands gripping the armrest tightly as he turned in his seat.. Frown furrowing his small eyebrows and orange crumbs covering his cheeks and lips. “Why does it get lost? Why doesn’t it follow the group?” 

His dad smiled at the sight of his son and brushed his hair back. “I don’t know Keith,” he said. “What do you think?” 

“Hmm.” Keith turned back around and leaned back in his rocking chair. His feet swung above the ground. He crossed his arms and stared up at the stars, trying to find an answer to the question. “Maybe…” he started. “Maybe they find something else they like. Like…” He worried his lip between his teeth and squinted up at the sky. “Like a really big chocolate cake. I would rather eat cake than go to Earth.” When he was finished, he turned to his father. An expectant and proud glint in his eyes, clearly, he was waiting for his dad to tell what a good solution he’d come up with. 

His father hummed. “Good one, Keith. I would choose cake over Earth, too.” And Keith smiled and plopped back down in his seat, feet swinging. “Do you want to know what I think?” 

Keith whipped his head around and nodded eagerly. His father smiled and leaned back in his chair. He folded his hands over his stomach and peered up into the big expanses of space. Endless black and countless stars peered back at him. “I think, it fell in love.” 

He turned his head to watch Keith scowl at him. “ _ Love _ ?” he asked, as if he couldn’t believe his father had really said that instead of something  _ cool _ . 

But his dad nodded and turned back to the stars. Kochab and Polaris and Pherkad. “Yes. I think, they found someone so great, so beautiful, so strong and so smart, that they couldn’t help but follow. I think their heart was screaming at them to go with their beloved, to build a new life with them and to make each other happy.” 

  
  


_ ‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ the moon, the stars, they’re nothing without you ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙ _

  
  


“Keith.” 

A sigh. 

“Keith.” 

Blankets got adjusted.

“Oh, come  _ on. _ Babe, my arm hurts.” 

Still no response. 

“ _ Keith _ , I swear to  _ god _ if you don’t take this from me right now my arm will snap in half.” 

Keith snapped out of his thoughts and turned to find his boyfriend struggling to hold a big bowl filled with popcorn and two glass bottles of coke in it with one hand. “Ah, sorry,” Keith muttered, as he took the heavy bowl with two hands and placed it on his lap. 

“ _ Thank  _ you,” Lance sighed as he draped one of the blankets he was holding over Keith’s shoulders and the other over his own, before he sat down in the rocking chair. The thing moaned dangerously loud at the extra weight of a full-grown man. “Umm, Keith? Are you sure these things are safe for us to sit on?” 

Keith smiled at the man next to him and nodded. “Of course.” He turned back to the sky and leaned backwards carefully. “They’ve only been standing in the attic for like…” he did quick math in his head, “sixteen years, or something. It’s probably fine.” 

Lance sighed but didn’t say anything. 

The two sat in a comfortable silence, the only sound being their hands diving into the bowl to grab popcorn and the crunching as they chewed. 

“Too bad Cheez Balls died. They would’ve made this evening even more perfect.” Lance’s voice was soft and sweet as he fumbled with his coke bottle’s label. He sighed and craned his head back to look at the sky. “God, did I love those disgusting things.” 

Keith watched the thousands of stars reflect in his boyfriend’s brown eyes and smiled. He hummed softly and clenched his hand around his own bottle. “They were so gross.” 

Lance looked over and grinned. “Like you,” he said, taking a sip from his coke so  _ obnoxiously  _ it made Keith roll his eyes and fight against the smile that threatened to pull up the corners of his mouth. 

“Sure, Lance,” he said, totally not smiling like a lovesick fool behind his handful of popcorn. 

They sat in silence again. The wind whispered something in a foreign language and the stars shone with secret mirth. And Lance and Keith sat, looking up at the very galaxies they’d had spent so much time exploring. 

“It’s weird to look at the universe from down here, instead of looking down from up there,” Keith whispered. 

Lance hummed. Neither took their eyes off the sky, as if they had to map and memorize it before the stars would shift and they’d have to start all over again. 

“Polaris, Yildum, Urodelus, Alifa Al Farkadain, Anwar Al Farkadain, Pherkad and Kochab.” Keith’s voice was softer than the rustling of the sand as he spoke. It was like a mantra. The names of the stars of his first constellation. 

“What did you say?” Lance asked softly, looking at his boyfriend curiously. 

Keith turned his head. “Ursa Minor,” he whispered. He turned back to the stars and started to point, but at the sight of Lance craning his head to see what Keith was pointing at, decided to go for a different approach. He carefully climbed out of his rocking chair, cradling the bowl of popcorn against his chest and keeping the blanket wrapped tightly around himself, and made his way over to Lance’s chair. Without any word, he plopped down on top of his boyfriend. 

“Yeah. No problem,” Lance grunted from underneath him. But his protests were weak, as seconds later two arms wrapped around Keith’s middle and tucked him closer to his chest. 

Like this, they were both warm and Keith could properly point out the stars. “Polaris, Yildum, Urodelus, Alifa Al Farkadain, Anwar Al Farkadain, Pherkad and Kochab.” Ursa Minor. 

Lance was silent as Keith spoke, head leaned back and arms relaxed around Keith’s middle as he listened. Keith told him about the Alpha and the Beta star, about how all the stars in every constellation get a Greek letter in a level from brightest to faintest. He explained how Polaris is visible every time of the day, every day of the year because Earth’s axis is pointed almost directly at it. And then, he spoke about other constellations, the ones he could remember from those few nights with dad, and the ones he’d taught himself in the years after the fire. 

All this time, Lance was silently listening. Steadily breathing and holding Keith close. 

“Lance?” he finally said, voice worn down and raspy from all the talking. 

Lance hummed and tightened his hold around Keith briefly. 

“I love you.” Keith turned his to press the tip of his nose to his boyfriend’s cheek. He could hear his father’s voice in his head. “You’re so great, so beautiful, so strong and so smart. And I think-” He frowned. “No. I  _ know.  _ I’ll follow you anywhere. Everywhere.” 

Lance breathed in deeply and pressed his face to the side of Keith’s head, breathing in the smell of his hair. “You don’t have to follow me anywhere, love. I’m staying right here with you.” He pressed his lips to Keith’s temple. 

And Keith closed his eyes and smiled. 

**Author's Note:**

> aaaaand that's it!! a bit shorter than i would've liked, but i wrote it in like 2.5 hours so yeah. 
> 
> hmmm leave a comment if you want! thanks for reading you're cute <3


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